Vinyl Record Sales Surged In 2016 Thanks To Classics

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Classic Rock Titles Made Up A Large Portion Of 2016 Vinyl Sales

According to a recent report conducted by BuzzAngle Music, American vinyl record sales increased by 26 per cent in 2016, an increase that hasn’t been seen since 1991.

This is the first full music report conducted by BuzzAngle. The report provides an in-depth analysis of trends in music sales, including digital downloads, CD sales, streaming patterns, and vinyl.

The report shows that although total physical album sales saw a decrease by 11.7 per cent, vinyl album sales rose and physical album sales accounted for 51.6 per cent of total album sales in 2016. Vinyl experienced a bigger growth than all other album sales, including digital albums.

The most interesting information provided by the report was the 25 highest selling vinyl records of 2016. Deep catalog titles (albums that were released over three years ago) contributed to 50 per cent of all forms of consumption. The highest selling genre was Rock, accounting for 20.3 per cent of vinyl sales.

Deep catalog items were largely included in 2016’s top 25 vinyl albums sold, including Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black coming in at second most sold. Prince’s Purple Rain, The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, and Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend all made the top 10 vinyl albums sold in 2016.

2016 saw a lot of loss in great artists, which could account for Bowie making the list twice and Prince’s inclusion, however, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Fleetwood Mac all made the list, showing classic vinyl’s affect on total vinyl album sales.